Deputies shot and killed beloved dog. It may cost CA county nearly $2M
The Fifth District Court of Appeal upheld a previous court’s decision that Fresno County deputies violated a woman’s rights and unnecessarily killed her dog — and the appeal has cost the county more money, the woman’s attorney said.
A Fresno County jury awarded Veronica Ordaz Gonzalez and her family $800,000 two years ago after Fresno County Sheriff’s entered her home without her consent and shot Scooby, a 4-year-old dog she had raised since he was a puppy, according to court records.
The county appealed the decision, arguing there was an error in jury instructions and that the amount of money to be paid out was excessive.
The Fifth District Court of Appeal found in an opinion filed Wednesday that the county failed to prove its case. The county will be required to pay out $800,000 to the family, about $800,000 in attorneys fees and a yet-to-be determined amount of new attorneys fees from the appeal, according to Nolan Kane, the partner with Paboojian Inc. who represented Ordaz Gonzalez.
Kane estimated the sum to reach $2 million after the attorneys fees are calculated.
“We’re very pleased with the outcome,” he told The Bee on Thursday. “It was a complete victory on appeal for our plaintiffs.”
Kane said his office offered to settle the case out of court for $250,000 before the trial, but the county would not agree to pay any more than $7,500.
The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office deferred comment to the Fresno County Counsel, which released a statement to The Bee.
“The county respectfully disagrees with the court,” the statement said. “The county remains convinced that its officers acted appropriately in response to a threat.”
The killing of the dog, Scooby
Multiple deputies responded to a call of vandalism just before 1 p.m. on June 3, 2018, according to court records. The callers said their son, who used methamphetamine, had vandalized their car overnight to the tune of $500.
The family said the son was known to frequent a house on South Lind Avenue in southeast Fresno.
The deputies went to the 100 block of Lind Avenue where Ordaz Gonzalez lived about 30 minutes later and asked her if she knew the man they were looking for and showed her a photo.
Kane said his client did not know the man and he never frequented the home, but the deputies did not believe her. She told deputies they were not allowed to enter her home when they did not produce a search warrant.
The deputies continued to attempt to convince her and ultimately put Ordaz Gonzalez and other family living in the home in handcuffs before searching the inside, the court records say.
Fresno County Sgt. James Dunn testified that he believed she gave implied consent to enter the home, the court opinion noted. He was named in the lawsuit along with Deputy Isaac Cervantes, who shot Scooby.
Deputies did not find the man they were looking for at the home.
At one point Cervantes showed up to the home with a sheriff’s K-9 called Bady. Another deputy used a rope to tie Scooby, who was loose, to a tree in front of the home, court records say.
Cervantes and the K-9 went to the back of the home to serve as a perimeter while the others searched the home. Scooby chewed through the rope holding him to a tree, the court opinion said, before he went into the backyard.
Cervantes shot Scooby, who did not die immediately. Kane said previously that the deputies did not call for any kind of assistance for the dying dog as he whimpered and struggled to breathe.
No one else at the residence on the night of the shooting saw what happened except Cervantes, Kane said.
The deputy testified Scooby brushed by him before sniffing the rear of the K-9. Cervantes shouted “Hey” at Scooby and the dogs got aggressive, the records say. He said Scooby had latched onto the K-9 so he shot the pet, according to court records.
Upon inspection, the K-9 had no injuries and deputies never took the animal to a veterinarian, the court records show.
“It’s our position that either the fight didn’t happen or he overreacted to what he thought was a serious fight,” Kane said. “There was no bite; there was just sniffing.”
Deputies left Scooby in the backyard and the family did not realize he was dead until after law enforcement had left the scene, according to Kane.
Kane said the incident was particularly traumatic for Ordaz Gonzalez.
“They leave the scene, and my client is distraught and (the family) actually call 911 to have the fire department to come out and assess her and help her breathe because she was so emotional,” he said.
